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Hudson

Vintage and desirable ESC's

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Hi all, just wondering if there are any older electronic speed controllers that are beginning to have moderately enhanced value based on their age and also on their performance reputation??

I have a Falcon and a Fox that I'm planning to run with sport tuned motors and I'd like to use an ESC that has a bit of a vintage feel to it, and also performs well.  My 'go to' ESC has always been the TEU101BK, this was the standard Tamiya ESC that was included in most kits when I got back into the hobby 10 plus years ago, and when the TEU104BK came out I didn't like it as much.

Can anyone point me to another option, or tell me if I'm missing anything by choosing the TEU101BK over a recent model??

Many thanks

Stephen

 

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I keep wondering if old Novak gear will start going up in value, now that they've gone belly-up, but it hasn't happened. It's sort of like vintage motors: except for Technigolds and Kyosho LeMans motors, none seem to be worth much...

I do like the idea of using period-correct electronics in old cars, if not for value, then just for the cool factor.

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Do you know if the TEU101BK is considered to be a good ESC??  Or is an ESC just an ESC!!

Clearly Tamiya update their 'stock' ESC fairly often, is this just a question of aesthetics and keeping things fresh, as opposed to any actual technological advances??

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There are a lot of old / vintage ESC out there, which will definitely perform better than the Tamiya ESC. I think of old LRP Runner or F1 ESC. You also could get Novak or GM Racing for really cheap.

I like the old ESC's. They had al lot of technology for that period.

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A lot of it depends on how "hot" of a motor you are using, i.e. number of turns.  If you are just bashing with silver can or stock motors, the Tamiya unit is just fine.   While a high-end one may "perform better" the average user under normal conditions will not notice it.

Also keep in mind that many of the high end vintage ESCs will not have reverse and many of them need to be calibrated whereas the newer ones are very easy to set up. 

I have seen some vintage ESCs get good money, but usually only with clean cases and original wiring.

Don't get me wrong, I like the old ones, especially the old Novaks but unless you are a die-hard period correct guy or want to run low turn motors, I would not recommend one.

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1 hour ago, 67CamaroSS said:

A lot of it depends on how "hot" of a motor you are using, i.e. number of turns.  If you are just bashing with silver can or stock motors, the Tamiya unit is just fine.   While a high-end one may "perform better" the average user under normal conditions will not notice it.

Also keep in mind that many of the high end vintage ESCs will not have reverse and many of them need to be calibrated whereas the newer ones are very easy to set up. 

I have seen some vintage ESCs get good money, but usually only with clean cases and original wiring.

Don't get me wrong, I like the old ones, especially the old Novaks but unless you are a die-hard period correct guy or want to run low turn motors, I would not recommend one.

Absolutely love the Tekin esc’s I use them on my 9 and 10t brushed motors.

3BFFBC4E-BD5E-4D6E-8C9C-B4FF058C52CE.jpeg

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Those Tekins look great.  Something like that would fetch a good price
 

I used to run a Titan on my clod and it worked great.

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16 hours ago, 67CamaroSS said:

A lot of it depends on how "hot" of a motor you are using, i.e. number of turns.  If you are just bashing with silver can or stock motors, the Tamiya unit is just fine.   While a high-end one may "perform better" the average user under normal conditions will not notice it.

Also keep in mind that many of the high end vintage ESCs will not have reverse and many of them need to be calibrated whereas the newer ones are very easy to set up. 

I have seen some vintage ESCs get good money, but usually only with clean cases and original wiring.

Don't get me wrong, I like the old ones, especially the old Novaks but unless you are a die-hard period correct guy or want to run low turn motors, I would not recommend one.

Ok got it, thanks for the advice,  so if I'm running silver can or possibly sport tuned, forgetting about period correct, what's good and affordable and easily available??

 

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20 minutes ago, Hudson said:

Ok got it, thanks for the advice,  so if I'm running silver can or possibly sport tuned, forgetting about period correct, what's good and affordable and easily available??

 

Hobbywing 1060 is a popular option

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32952942905.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.12a942400n6C9g&algo_pvid=a2b2deb6-d804-4c4f-8275-bfb0fe5dba92&algo_expid=a2b2deb6-d804-4c4f-8275-bfb0fe5dba92-0&btsid=0b0a555816077036617857273e9760&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

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The 1060 is very good value. Good for 3s if you are so inclined and lipo ready.

I put them in 90% of my builds

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I’ve got 2 old ESC’s from the 80’s. One is a Demon and the other is some super early one, no idea if it even has a make. I think it was mail order or something from the LHS ? It’s a brick of a thing. Both are way bigger than anything you’d get these days. Never ever thought about prices.

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1 hour ago, Avante2001R said:

Get the Hobbywing 10BL120 it’s a better esc and can be bought for 35-40.

He's running brushed motors.

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Personally, with the exception of the steering servo, which I use Futaba for, I tend to keep everything OEM. So for instance, I use the TEU-105bk since it was the latest at the time. Now I use their latest TBLE-02.

Also, while this might be blasphemous, I put a 105 into my Celtics Gr Bs :)

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Is this a decent ESC? No experience with LRP. Any idea what it’s worth because I don’t need it along with a Novak receiver. 

8AB5C56D-7948-4CB2-8097-3674548FA4DF.jpeg

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I use a lot of Novak Atoms for my vintage builds. They are small and fit anywhere. Sometimes, I use a Cyclone for the competition buggies.

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20 hours ago, Nugget said:

Is this a decent ESC? No experience with LRP. Any idea what it’s worth because I don’t need it along with a Novak receiver. 

8AB5C56D-7948-4CB2-8097-3674548FA4DF.jpeg

Don't know the ICS, but after some research the ICS seems to be the US counterpart of the LRP IPC. So it's from the beginning of the Millenium or so.

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The really good finds are the accidental ones, such as the Novak that came with this Dynastorm. The car was an excellent find on its own but it came with a couple of very nice extras such as this ESC. Fully functional and in great shape. On this pic, the Dyna is fully restored. This was definitely not the shape it was in when i bought it

 

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How about this beast I pulled out of an original Wild Willy I bought awhile back. Do not know much about it, but I think it was supposed to be more of a boat ESC to run twin motors. Not sure though. 

20200930_154756.jpg

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